2) The One Where Malfoy's A Slut
by Babyprincessrainbowfish
Summary: After two years, Draco Malfoy returns from Colorado with his son, and Harry hears that Malfoy is a slut, but doesn't know whether to believe it or not. (The second story in the "The One Where" series).


**#2 The One Where Malfoy's A Slut **

"Hey, Harry!" Pansy Parkinson stood to hug him tightly as he made his way to the table. He wrapped his arms around his friend, hugging her back.

"Hello, Pans." Harry smiled. "So, what's this all about?" Pansy hadn't requested speaking to Harry alone for some time.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if I could interview you for Witch Gossip Daily?" Her eyes sparkled.

"Oh, Pansy, the gossip queen as always," Harry laughed. Pansy giggled, too, and then widened her eyes in a begging face.

Pansy Parkinson had really grown, Harry had to admit. No longer did she have her chubby pug-face, but now she was tall, skinny, and had nice cheekbones that weren't pudgy. Her lips were coated in red lipstick, and she wore a plain green tank top and tight gray pants. Slytherin to the end, Harry thought. Pansy had managed to find work in Witch Gossip Daily, which was, as anybody could guess, a magazine full of the newest gossip. Harry had once joked about it being right up Pansy's alley. She had just batted her eyes and told Harry to stop being so nice.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Harry questioned, looking around at all the fallen leaves over the sidewalks, crunching under people's feet as they walked along, chattering noisily.

Pansy beamed, pulling out her notepad and quill. Harry eyed it nervously; he couldn't help it, Rita Skeeter had hit a nerve with her magic pad and quill years ago.

"So, witches everywhere have been wondering about your relationship with Ginny Weasley?" Pansy's eyes glowed with excitement at his answer. The little gossip.

"Um... Well, I've been-"

"Is it true you've been seeing her for two years now?"

"Um, yes?" Harry tried to reply, but it came out sounding like a question.

"Will you propose to her?" Pansy was jotting down notes as fast as she could.

"Um... maybe. I don't know. We haven't... discussed it." Harry was slightly uncomfortable about this topic, but he wasn't even sure why. He was going to marry Ginny eventually, wasn't he?

"Oooh. Here that, girls, Harry may be getting married!" Pansy clapped her hands excitedly like a five year old girl being told she'll get free candy.

"Maybe!" Harry insinuated automatically. Pansy talked on and on for another ten minutes, and finally packed away her pad and quill and then clasping her hands together on the table. The waitress, a very pretty blonde girl, had brought them coffee, and then winked at Harry and left.

As she left, Pansy called, "Don't even think about it!" Harry rolled his eyes, and then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Headache?" Pansy raised an eyebrow.

"Mhmm," Harry nodded slightly. Pansy pulled a small vial of headache potion out of her purse and poured it into the coffee Harry had yet to finish.

"Thanks." Harry drank the coffee, and his head felt so much better. "Thanks," he said again.

"So, did you hear the news?" Pansy said, squirming excitedly in her seat across from Harry.

"What news?" Harry knew she loved knowing things others didn't. Just like when she was younger.

"Draco Malfoy is back!"

It took Harry a while to comprehend this. When he finally got it through his brain, he replied, "I saw him yesterday."

Pansy's face fell. "Oh. Well... did you know he actually just moved back here from Colorado?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I didn't actually talk to him. Like, I _talked_ to him, but I didn't _talk_ to him. No, I mean-"

"Don't hurt yourself, Harry," Pansy rolled her eyes. "What do you mean, talked to him?"

"He came into Granger and Lovegood Books, Inc." Harry pushed his hair out of his eyes. "He was looking for a book for his son."

"Scorpius?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess so. He didn't mention any names." In Harry's head, he thought, _who names their kid Scorpius?_

"Mmm. Well, that's interesting."

"Why?" Harry saw nothing unusual about buying a gift for somebody. _Unless you were buying a head on a platter. Then that'd be different_.

"Oh, no reason." Pansy's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts. She took a careful sip, trying not to mess up her perfectly manicured nails. Harry shook his head._ Girls_.

"Well, hey, I gotta run. Business and all that." Pansy stood, leaned over to hug Harry, and left.

Harry didn't move for another ten minutes.

Harry stuffed his hands in his pocket, walking down the sidewalk, head down. He was passing a park, and could hear children screaming and hollering and whooping. A small girl, about five or six years old, Harry guessed, was running and tripped. She landed right next to Harry's feet. Harry reached down and picked her up quickly.

"Are you alright?" He questioned her. She nodded, and appeared to be fine.

"Tank 'ou!" the child smiled. Then she turned and chased after a boy about her age, who ran away, screaming, "Ew, cooties!"

Harry shook his head and continued walking. For a moment, Ginny passed through his mind. When Pansy had asked if he would propose to Ginny, it'd been awkward because, yes, Harry loved Ginny, but they were both so busy and it'd be difficult to hold up a family. He wondered how Ginny would feel about this. He decided that the next time he spoke with her, he'd bring it up.

Harry then remembered Scorpius Malfoy, and wondered if it was difficult for Malfoy to hold up his family. Harry found himself wondering if Malfoy even still had a wife by now. Then he thought, I wonder why he's even moved back. He knows he's probably not wanted here. Even if he is free of charge of anything. He shook his head. Why was he even thinking about this?

Harry concentrated on shoving any remaining thoughts of Malfoy to the back of his head. It was not his business.

The bell above the door rang as Harry pushed the door open. He held the door open for four kids leaving, and then went to find the business owner.

"Hey, mate," George Weasley greeted.

"Hey. How you holding up?" Harry hugged George briefly, then pulled away.

"Okay, I suppose. The store's so popular these days." He looked at all the kids running around, laughing and squealing. Some kids screaming at jokes their friends pulled on them.

"Fred would've been so proud." Harry replied.

"I miss him." George sighed softly. Harry bit his lip._ I do, too_.

"Maybe we could hang out later. You and I haven't hung out for a while. Go get us some drinks." George glanced at Harry for approval.

"Let's do that. I think we could both use a break." Harry replied, sighing heavily, standing and pacing back and forth now.

"Something wrong, mate?" George questioned. Harry's mouth opened to reply, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. It was hard to answer a question when you don't even know what the problem is.

"No. Hey, did you hear Malfoy's back?" Harry changed the subject quickly.

"No. Is he really?" George's eyes were full of question.

"Mhmm. Back from Colorado. With his son. Scorpius."

"Who names their child Scorpius?" George made a face. Harry chuckled, despite himself.

"Exactly. But then," Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets, gazing around, "Malfoy never made much sense anyways."

"Got that right." George yawned. "I wonder why he even moved back from Colorado."

Harry shrugged. "Good question."

"Maybe he's runnin' from something." George climbed a ladder to a very high shelf and grabbed something down.

"Why would he do that?" Harry's brows were drawn down in confusion.

"I don't know. Maybe he stole something or showed magic or... killed somebody. Maybe he killed somebody."

Harry's body shuddered at the thought of that. Then he shook his head until he could feel his brain being scrambled like this morning's eggs. "No."

"No?" George cocked an eyebrow. "Then I don't know."

"I don't, either. I'm going to run now. I'll see you around here at 3:00 p.m?"

George nodded, turning to a customer who wanted something. "Sure. Bye, Harry!" Then, "Whatcha want, squirt?"

The streets were crowded, and the noise gave Harry a headache. He found a good place to apparate, and did so.

_So good to be home,_ Harry thought, sighing and collapsing on his couch in fatigue. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

He woke to innocent people screaming for help. For a quick second, Harry's heart jolted as he thought of Voldermort terrorizing people, killing them. But opening his eyes, he realized it was just the television. He sighed with relief, switching off the TV and checking the time. It was 2:30. He'd been asleep for at least two hours. He stretched and decided to take a quick shower before leaving.

When he got out of the shower, he pulled on blue jeans and a red hoodie. He yawned tiredly as he pulled on his trainers and then after attempting to calm down his wild hair, set down the brush and ran to the fireplace, threw down the floo powder, and cried out, "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"

George stood outside, as he'd already locked up the shop. Harry walked up beside him.

"Ready, mate?" He asked Harry.

"Yeah."

"Geez. You look terrible. Let's go get you a drink." George put his arm around Harry teasingly and then began singing in a terrible voice, "Har-rrryyyyy is tiiiiired, and loooooks like craaaaap!" Harry elbowed him, but laughed.

"I wish I were deaf right now."

George's eyes lit up. "That's a brilliant idea! A deafening potion!" He grinned. "Fantastic!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Can I sign up for _not_ testing it now?"

George chuckled. "No, you won't test it. Ron will."

"Does he know this?"

"No." George grinned bigger than the mad-hatter.

"I feel sorry for him," Harry teased, laughing again.

George just continued grinning.

"Harry!" Dean Thomas ran over to greet him. "George! What's up?"

"Making up plans to prank Ronald." George and Harry replied at the same time. Dean laughed.

"Of course you are. Why'd I even ask? Come on, Seamus is here!" George and Harry joined Dean and Seamus in their booth, sitting across from them.

"So, did you guys hear about Malfoy?" Seamus asked. Harry wished this topic would vanish already. Was this all everybody was talking about?

"Yes. I ran into him yesterday," Harry informed them.

"Yeah, he moved from Colorado." Seamus sipped his butterbeer.

"Don't get drunk, Seam," Dean warned.

"Yeah, yeah." Seamus smiled and leaned over, pressing his lips to Dean's. Harry rolled his eyes and George grinned. They were still kissing a few minutes later, so Harry coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, and I heard something else." Seamus fussed with his hair.

"What?" George asked. Dean leaned over and began fixing Seamus' hair, muttering, "How do you manage to get it so messed up?"

"Malfoy's a huge slut," Seamus replied, not even seeming to notice Dean now playing with his hair.

"What?!" Harry choked on his butterbeer.

"Yep. Heard it from Blaise, who heard it from Pansy."

"And how... does Pansy know?" Harry asked, uncertain if he really wanted to know.

"She has a friend who claims he saw Malfoy in the bar, making, shall we say, sexual advances on other people."

"And how do we know this person isn't just trying to start something?" Harry was desperate for the slut thing to not be real, although he had no idea why he even cared.

George and Seamus looked at Harry funny. "Trying to stand up for Malfoy, mate?"

Harry's face flushed. "No! I just... I don't think I can believe that Malfoy's a slut. I saw him yesterday. He was... civilized and polite. Believe it or not."

"Probably acts normal during the day. Unless he's usually busy having sex with fifty different people."

"Ew!" Harry made a disgusted face. Dean frowned at Seamus, too.

"I wonder if he's gay. I always thought he was," George commented.

Harry groaned and slammed his head on the table. "Why are we talking about this?" he complained. George laughed at Harry's discomfort.

About an hour later, Harry stood. "I'm going to head home. I'm exhausted."

George said goodbye to Harry, and Dean and Seamus stopped kissing long enough to say good-night. Harry watched awkwardly as Seamus put his hand on the back of Dean's neck, and gently pulled him forward to capture his lips in another kiss that he could tell was soon going to be heated. Harry decided to walk home.

The night was cool, and the leaves blew across the ground. The streets were mostly cleared out. Every so often, Harry saw a couple walking by, holding hands or talking softly. The crickets somewhere hummed their tune, and Harry breathed in deeply.

Stopping at a corner, Harry saw two dark figures in the distance on a park bench. The bench was located under a tree, making the two figures seemingly molded together as one. Nobody else was around. The moon was coming out, the skies clear of clouds. The stars glistened beautifully. Harry looked at the stars, smiling at how gorgeous the night was.

When he glanced back over at the couple on the bench, the moonlight had revealed their activity. They were having sex. The male had blond hair. Harry gasped loudly, and when the male looked up, Harry could suddenly imagine the cold, gray eyes.

Harry rushed into an alley, deciding he no longer wanted to walk home. He apparated quickly, and when he got home, he buried himself in his bed sheets, and willed his memory to go away. He didn't remember when, or how, but Harry eventually fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of crickets singing to their mates, and hauntingly cold gray eyes.

Author's Note: Please review! Lemme know whatcha think!


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